A Lonely Prince with Fangs (completed)

Vampires 101

"What are you doing?"

I jumped at the sound of Octavian's voice. I removed my hand from Alexandru's forehead and turned to the other vampire in the room. Octavian was wearing his usual leather pants and jacket but something was different about him. His hand was pressed against his side. He's hurt.

"I was just ... I found Alexandru asleep and ... ." I couldn't find a way to say that I was really just enjoying Alexandru's hair.

"It doesn't matter," Octavian said with a wave of his hand and something else on his mind. "When did he fall asleep?"

"I—I don't know, maybe an hour ago? Are—are you hurt?" I stood up from the sofa and was tempted to get closer to Octavian. At my movement, the vampire stepped back.

"I'm fine. You're just a human girl you can't help." He was right about that. "Do you know where Alexandru keeps his medicinal herbs?" I shook my head. "I've searched the whole castle and can't find his hiding spot." Hiding spot? Why would Alexandru want to hide medicine? I can't believe I didn't hear Octavian rummaging through the castle.

He looked down in despair and I just stood there awkwardly. "If you don't mind me asking," I began, "what happened?"

I spent the next two hours with Octavian telling me about his time just now in America. He got hurt only a few hours ago and quickly made his way here to Alexandru. He had barely dodged a witch's stake. I knew that there were people out there who worked in the dark arts but never really thought about it. Alexandru had said that he had been stabbed seven times by that samurai sword because it was blessed with an anti-vampire spell.

Octavian explained what Alexandru had briefly explained. Octavian accidentally got mixed up with a group of natural vampires in America who believe there should be an official society of vampires who come up with rules and restrictions in being vampires, but Octavian refused some of their conditions and tried getting out of there. Ominously, hunters picked up a trail set by the other vampires.

"I'm starving, and I can't hunt because I'm hurt. All my senses are dull and I almost didn't make it across the Atlantic Ocean as a flock of bats." Octavian went on as he finished a glass of milk I'd given him. We sat in the kitchen on stools. "I need Alexandru because in the past he was smart and got connections with witches and gypsies who taught him spells and healing remedies."

"Spells, like what?" I asked, a bit mystified.

"Well, for one thing, he can levitate objects and control the movement of them."

"I've seen him do that, but I thought every vampire could do that."

"No, Alexandru is one of the rare vampires knows how to use magic. I never had the patience and skill, and still, don't. And try to remember that those who are turned into vampires by naturals, do not have any powers."

"So what are the powers of a natural vampire?"

"Well, you already know that a natural vampire is one that has actually sold their soul to the devil themselves and has made a contract with him which can only be broken by the variable that enabled them to turn into a vampire. Now powers. A natural vampire has the strength of twelve average men, they also can eat regular human food if they wish to. They can hypnotize, convince, and erase minds, memories, and thoughts. They can freeze time whenever they want but only for as long as their body can handle it. They also turn into a flock of about twenty bats, usually depending on the size of the vampire. We hunt at night and sleep for about eight hours whenever our body needs the rest. And it does. Remember that. We need rejuvenation. If we do not take care of that one thing we might as well die. Now, weaknesses. As I have pointed out, sleep. While sleeping a natural vampire is in its most vulnerable state. We are paralyzed, dead, even. We cannot hear, smell, or feel. We also can't stand in the sun for too long. About four minutes max before your skin starts to burn." Octavian took a sip of his milk.

"Going back to powers," I began, "in the memory I saw, about you and Alexandru fighting in this very castle, what did he do to you? He healed you ... ."

Octavian became grim but told me anyway. "When anything is hurt, a natural vampire has the ability to heal it."

"What if someone dies?"

"I don't know," Octavian looked curious himself about that question. He shifted in his seat and readjusted himself. He put his hand on his side and pulled up his shirt to get a look at his wound. He wasn't bleeding badly but it looked like it really hurt.

"Now," he began, "vampires that are turned into vampires by naturals, are something we naturals like to call younglings. They have the strength of ten men, they burn up quickly in the sunlight turning to dust with just the slightest contact. They cannot eat human food and are constantly hungry. They cannot freeze time or heal others. They turn into one bat but have just as heightened senses as a natural. Now, they can learn magic just as Alexandru has taken it upon himself. So I guess that's the only way to become stronger than a natural.

"Overall, we both live forever."